Read about Morrie’s toilet training and diabetes.

And check out our Fly Less page.

Stuff

You could call this our hodge-podge area. Here you’ll find the details of our lives that aren't covered in the Sheila, Spencer or S2Cycle sections. Right now it covers: our bio-diesel car, our Food Choices, including some new developments,  Spirituality, our relationship review and our cats. We’ve added a whole new sub-section about our home including the back-story of downsizing and photos of the new condo. Our newest adventure is a major change in our food choices called Eat to Live. It’s so major it gets its own page. And the newest section is called Making a Difference that focuses on ways we can all make a difference. Remember as the group We Add Up says, No one can do everything. But everyone can do something!

Our New Car: 2003 Jetta TDI runs BioDiesel

One of the reasons we downsized is because we want to live more lightly on the earth. For that reason we’ve coveted the Toyota hybrid car, the Prius. We had decided if we got what we wanted for the house we would look into a buying a new car. The process of exploring was a wonderful distraction while we were in transition. We learned a lot about both hybrids and also the benefits of using bio-diesel. After much reading and shopping we purchased a 2003 Jetta TDI from  the Green Car Company in late October, 2005. It’s fully loaded: black leather interior, manual transmission, CD, sunroof, and heated seats. We painted it a bright yellow (for increased  visibility) while we were cycling in Europe in July 2006! We’re excited to be ending our dependance on Middle-Eastern oil and we’ve added a sticker that says Bio-Diesel: No War Required. For an overview on bio-diesel visit: BioDiesel Now.

Carbon Neutral?

We just came across this web site that lets you calculate your CO2 impact and even pay offsets so you can drive "carbon neutral". After running the numbers on the car options we considered, we're very pleased to discover our vehicle is the BIG WINNER!

Here is the info, based on our actual annual miles (7,341):

• 2006 Prius: This car uses the equivalent of 137 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 2657  pounds of CO2 annually.
• 2003 VW Jetta (gas): This car uses the equivalent of 194 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 3763  pounds of CO2 annually.
• 2003 VW Jetta (diesel): This car uses the equivalent of 223 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 4326  pounds of CO2 annually.
• 2003 VW Jetta (biodiesel): This car uses the equivalent of 48 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 931  pounds of CO2 annually.
   

As of May 2008 we made the decision to NOT fly to New Zealand for a month of cycling and touring due to the impact on our carbon footprint. You can read more about this decision and found a wealth of related resources on our Fly Less page.

Food Choices & EarthSave

Our food choices have shaped our lives dramatically for more than a decade. In 1990 we heard John Robbins speak at the University of Washington. We immediately read his book Diet for a New America and gave up meat, dairy, and eggs on the basis of the environmental destruction those industries cause. We founded the Seattle chapter of EarthSave to help spread the word. Spencer served as secretary for 5 years, while Sheila was the president. Sheila eventually gave up that position and helped the organization start a healthy food festival, "The Taste of Health" while she also served on the national board of directors. After 10 years we both retired. To learn more about the connection between your food choices and the environment visit EarthSave’s national website. John Robbins has a new book out called The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Save Your Life and The World. It covers updated information about genetically modified foods and Mad Cow Disease.

New as of April 20, 2007. We have decided that despite our plant-based diet we have been consuming way too much processed food, mostly in the form of soy and nowhere near enough whole foods such as fruits and veggies. SO... we’ve just started a 6-wekk program based on the book Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, MD. His web site offers a wealth of support including a comprehensive recipe database, discussion forum and an archive of past radio talks and newsletters. We’re excited to finally be cleaning up our eating and hope that we’ll be thinner and healthier by Memorial Day weekend when we attend this year’s Northwest Tandem Rally in Yakima. Read the full story here.

Spirituality

We’ve been on a spiritual journey which has led us to Buddhism. We've been practicing vipassana (Insight) meditation since 1992. We attend annual week-long silent retreats each summer at Cloud Mountain. Most recently we've discovered a teacher, Phillip Moffitt, who combines mindful movement with meditation. That combination has struck a chord in us, as it melds nicely with the yoga practice we do. We've sat with Phillip on several retreats including at Spirit Rock and expect we’ll continue to do so at least annually. This serendipitously has also led us to sitting again with the very first Buddhist teacher, Julie Wester, who also teaches at Spirit Rock.

What is Insight Meditation?

(borrowed from Seattle Insight Meditation Society)
The term "insight meditation" refers both to a spiritual practice shared by all forms of Buddhism, and to a particular historical Buddhist tradition. The word "insight" is a common translation of the Pali word vipassana, which means "clear seeing". Developing "clear seeing" helps people live their lives with growing skillfulness and ease.

As a spiritual practice, insight meditation helps cultivate the qualities of mindfulness and equanimity, which in turn foster the deepening of wisdon and compassion, the gateways to liberation and freedom.

As a spiritual tradition, insight meditation draws on the accumulated wisdom of the Theravadin Buddhist lineage as practiced over centuries in the monasteries of Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka, and as transmitted over the last thirty years to teachers in the West.

Our Annual Relationship Review

Every year we go to Black Butte (near Sisters/Bend, Oregon) for 4 days between Christmas and New Year's to do what we call our relationship review. It's a structured set of questions which we discuss and journal. Then we set both personal and relationship goals for the coming year and beyond. We've been doing this process since before we were married. If you would find it useful you’re welcome to download a copy and customize it to suit your needs. It’s something we really look forward to doing together. We recommend setting aside a large chunk of uninterrupted time, ideally away from phones, computers, etc. It takes us an entire day to go through it.